The arrangement of copper wire in the slots of a stator core of a dynamoelectric machine often involves forming or shaping of the wire before the wire is inserted into stator slots. Typically, the wire is formed to include a plurality of coil segments. These coil segments are commonly formed in the wire via a rotating, barrel type device, onto which unformed wire is fed. The rotating device generally includes a plurality of forming protrusions that contact the wire to form the coil segments. The coil segments are formed one-at-a-time over the protrusions, as the wire is rotated/fed onto the rotating device.
One drawback to forming coil segments one-at-a-time is the amount of time the process takes compared to a process wherein a plurality of coil segments are formed simultaneously. Accordingly, various apparatus and methods have been utilized in the past for simultaneously forming a plurality of coil segments. One example of a prior art apparatus for simultaneously forming a plurality of coil segments is found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,624,768, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
According to the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 7,624,768, an apparatus is configured to simultaneously form a plurality of coil segments in a copper wire. The apparatus includes a plurality of forming structures coupled to an on-axis actuator. Activation of the on-axis actuator draws the forming structures toward one another in the on-axis direction. At the same time, alternating forming structures are moved away from one another in the off-axis direction. As a result, a wire is bent into a desired shape (e.g., upper and lower coil segments, each coil segment having an end-loop shape).
While the arrangement of U.S. Pat. No. 7,624,768 allows for the simultaneous formation of a plurality of coil segments there are a few issues. For example, it may be relatively difficult for a human or a machine to remove the formed wire from the apparatus. This is due, in part, to the limitations in separate movement of the forming structures in the on-axis and off-axis directions following formation of the wire segments. Another exemplary issue with the arrangement of U.S. Pat. No. 7,624,768 is that the apparatus includes numerous components with multiple parts, including clamping actuators with springs, and failure of any one of these components will result in the need for machine down-time to allow for repairs.
In view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to provide a wire forming apparatus wherein the formed wire segments may be more quickly and easily removed from the apparatus. It would also be advantageous if such an apparatus was comprised of relatively few parts and was reliable in operation. Moreover, it would be advantageous if such a wire forming apparatus could be more easily and economically constructed than various wire forming apparatus found in the prior art.